Stars in his Eyes
by FansieFace
Summary: The clear, perfect night. Reflected in his clear, perfect eyes
1. Chapter 1

Katherine looked at him, and saw stars in his eyes. His precious sky, the thing he looked at to keep him alive, now reflected. The clear, perfect night. Reflected in his clear, perfect eyes. Every star visible. The moon too. And Jack's eyes showed them to her in a different way. A way filled with sadness. After this, she would never again be able to enjoy a bright, clear night. They used to be able to make her happy, with thoughts of him. Now they would only bring sadness. Never again would she enjoy a night like this again. Never again would he tell her about his old dream of Santa Fe, of a moon that was big and yellow, not tired and gray. No longer would stars make her smile. Not now that she had seen them in the eyes that would never again sparkle with laughter and love. Katherine could feel the tears flowing silently down her face. Ever moment was a snap shot, frozen into her memory forever. Crutchie at her door, panic all over his face. All the newsies at the lodging house, tears and fear like she had never seen before. Seeing her Jack lying on the rooftop, barely breathing from the terrible beating. Seeing his breathing slow, then stop. Hearing him breath out, "Ace." Then he was gone. No more. Crutchie sobbing. Feeling his hand on her shoulder. And then time was normal again and she collapsed.

"Jack. Jack! Ya can't be gone! Ya jist can't!" Crutchie was crying uncontrollably. Katherine was silent. Her tears never stopped as she knelt next to her precious Jack, looked at his face, covered in dried blood, in cuts and scrapes. His hair was matted in blood from a gash on the top. And he was gone. Never again would she hear his voice. Never again would he sketch her. Never again. And there were stars in his eyes. She was numb as she pulled Crutchie into her arms and they cried together. She felt nothing as she climbed back down to the other newsies. Nothing broke through until she had to tell them what they already knew, but didn't want to believe.

"Jack...didn't make it." And her years weren't silent anymore, they were loud sobs that hurt her chest and her throat and her head. She could barely see through he blurry eyes, but she couldn't escape the emotions of the room as Romeo collapsed, Specs stopped trying to hold back his tears. All the boys were messes, no longer caring how they looked, united in their overwhelming grief for the boy who had been they're father, their brother, their friend. The boy who was now lying on a rooftop with the stars reflected in his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

His eyes sought out the stars, looking for the things that had given him hope for so long. He could barely make out the pale lights swimming in the black. He could have sworn he saw the lights going out around him and he blinked, trying to focus on them. The darkness grew, and suddenly he couldn't see any stars, only a vague shape in front of him, on top of him, with wild curls. He could just barely hear crying, and he felt a few wet drops on his cheeks falling from the girl hovering over him. The sobbing was coming from beside him, the tears lading on him from above. Two people, two friends, one love, one brother. He knew who they were, and he tried to acknowledge them.

"Ace…" he said, hearing and feeling his voice come out hoarse and rough. What was this? Why couldn't he move or speak? He tried again, tried to say his brother's name, but couldn't. His eyes were heavy, it was becoming harder and harder to force air in and out of his lungs. The air felt cold on his head, on his chest, and he wasn't sure why. He was so confused, he didn't understand. He put all of his effort into keeping his eyes open. _I have to stay awake, I can't leave her, she must be hurt, she's crying_. His thoughts came too fast, too jumbled for him to keep track of, and he couldn't do it any longer. He let his eyes drift closed, too tired and heavy to keep them open any longer, and focused so hard on breathing he could barely think of anything else. His breath was shallow and slow, and now he felt pain.

Pain radiated from his head down to his toes, and he wished he could move his body so he could curl into a ball and cry until the pain went away. Then came the numbness, the lack of all feeling, no cold nor warmth, no feeling from the teardrops falling on his face, and then he couldn't hear and he couldn't force his eyes open and now he wished the pain was back so he knew he was still there, he wasn't gone. His thoughts slowed down and he could only think of the numbness and of his Ace. He faded more and more, and then he saw the stars once more. _See ya in Santa Fe, Ace_. Then even his thoughts went numb and he was gone.

 **Do you see how bad I am? This was supposed to be a one-shot and now here's a second chapter. I couldn't help myself once I thought if it, and then I needed to post it. Oops.**


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